A shove and down he goes. It happened in Silverstone, right before the British Grand Prix; a video that landed on YouTube is proof of that. The protagonists are Kimi Raikkönen and Paul Henry Cahier, a French photographer. According to Cahier’s version, Raikkönen, after parking his car on the starting grid, lifted his hands to get him to move away while he and his colleagues were trying to get some close-up shots. The Frenchman tripped onto a duffle bag and fell backward without damage. Ferrari coming to his defence right away. The words of Luca Colaianni, Ferrari’s spokesperson:
"The photographer’s attitude was too intrusive, he invaded the driver’s personal space despite Kimi’s trainer’s warning".
There are always a few deep throats, even in companies, who are desperate to talk. Thus, on Thursday, 10 July 2008, the following news appeared in the business press:
"Banco Santander will step down from sponsoring the Mercedes McLaren Formula 1 team in 2009 to become a sponsor of Ferrari in 2010, according to banking institution sources told the press. After evaluating the possibility of terminating the contract with the English team, Santander has chosen to keep its commitments for the current and the coming year. The decision comes in the wake of rumours in the Spanish press that two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso will be based at the Maranello factory as of 2009".
According to the indiscretions, Fernando Alonso won’t switch to Ferrari right away, which will keep Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkönen for at least one season, considering also that both drivers have signed contracts. The Spanish driver could however reach Maranello in 2010, seeing how the powerful bank, together with its millionaire president Emilio Botin, have always supported the former world champion, the daily paper AS strongly supports this last hypothesis. Even the colours of the Spanish bank, red and white, would fit perfectly on Maranello’s single-seater. The amount of money that Santander would be willing to pay to have its name printed on the Ferrari's rear wing has also been made public: it would be €25.000.000 per season. And something is confirmed by Fernando Alonso himself, who is very interested in the affair, especially now that Jean Todt is no longer at the helm of Ferrari, as he had declared in the past:
"As long as I’m here, our doors are closed for the Spaniard".
A lot of indiscretions are coming from Alonso’s entourage regarding his possible move to Maranello. Fernando had announced in Silverstone:
"I’ll decide about my future between the Belgian and Italian GP".
This is also the same period during which the Maranello team announces their lineup for the following season. A very talented and still hungry driver, Alonso has several possibilities for the time being, waiting to know officially if the road to Sports Management will open up for him. He could stay for another year with Renault, or accept the proposals of BMW and Honda. One thing is certain, however. Ferrari, in order not to destabilise the team, will not speak about the issue except in the period it deems most appropriate. In all likelihood, a decision will be made based on the results obtained during the championship. If Raikkonen were to leave at the end of 2009, Alonso could be teamed up with Massa, otherwise, it would be the Brazilian who would have to vacate the cockpit. Meanwhile, on Tuesday 8 July 2008, Kimi Raikkonen urged his team:
"Now we have to focus on the next race and react accordingly without any hysterics. We know we have a winning car, we just need to have a weekend without any major problems".
In the first private test at Hockenheim the Finn, who covered 63 laps setting the fastest lap, was slowed down by rain. The following day, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time, while Kimi Raikkonen set the third fastest time. At the end of the final day of practice, Felipe Massa sets the fastest time. The Brazilian says he is very happy:
"We are competitive, as are our direct rivals. It will be a good challenge".
In the run-up to the German Grand Prix, Hamilton had tested the McLaren MP4-23's new front wing - introduced at the British Grand Prix - extensively in the team's simulator, and then during a pre-race test session at the Hockenheim circuit. Having honed the car's setup to his liking after initially finding the handling difficult, he used it in the race. Kovalainen was not as comfortable with the car's handling and ran a greater front wing angle to produce more downforce, at the expense of having to run larger radiators due to the reduced airflow produced over the car. This led to a slight reduction in his car's overall performance. In other technical developments, Ferrari introduced revised bargeboards, exhaust exits, and an altered windscreen for its F2008 car. BMW Sauber added turning vanes to the top of its F1.08's nose, while Toyota removed some bodywork from its TF108's exhaust exits. Honda also introduced new bargeboards for its RA108 chassis. All of these changes were carried out to improve each car's aerodynamic performance. Friday, July 18, 2008, during the first practice session the track was wet following early-morning rain, and shortly after the session started, further precipitation made the track even wetter, although it did begin to dry out as the session progressed. Hamilton was the fastest in this session ahead of his teammate Kovalainen. The Ferraris of Massa and Räikkönen came third and fifth respectively, with Renault's Fernando Alonso sandwiched between them in fourth place. Kubica spun off the track and Sébastien Bourdais had a mechanical problem with his flywheel sensor towards the end of the session. Both ended up at the bottom of the timesheets as a result of these problems.
Friday's second session was held in dry conditions. Hamilton again set the fastest time. Massa and Räikkönen improved to second and third positions, pushing Kovalainen down to fourth. Mark Webber set the fifth-fastest time, after earlier having electrical and clutch problems with the car. Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Kubica, Heidfeld, and David Coulthard made up the rest of the top ten. Formula 1 is a triumph of uncertainties. As we approach the German Grand Prix without a sign of how things will turn out, everything seems precarious. Starting with the weather, a real tyrant capable of throwing into the wind the sophisticated technologies relied upon by teams and drivers, and moving on to the results of the first tests, which, after the first free practice sessions, leave everyone the chance to show confidence. Passing clouds, rain that comes and goes, humidity in the air, and tyre grip, become elements that announce a race full of twists and turns. But already on Saturday, the hunt for pole could become a real rodeo, because the rain is taken for certain and the uncertainty steals the sleep of those who, strategist or not, have to decide. A mix that puts a strain on the nervous system at Ferrari after the mistakes made at Silverstone, with a flop that angered Luca Montezemolo. It is therefore understandable that there are big smiles at the Ferrari box when testing stops in the afternoon: the cars ran smoothly with times very close to the McLaren Englishman, despite Lewis Hamilton setting a great time on the very last lap. But Felipe Massa, fresh out of the car, points out:
"Don't be impressed, the times that count are others and we did well. We are there and we will prove it. We are prepared, we have shown that we are competitive and even the uncertain weather does not worry us, because compared to Silverstone, we are keeping more things under control. I have faith even though I know it will be tough".
Global incertitude, starting with this German Grand Prix, incredibly delicate and important now that there is this crazy ranking, with three drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, and Kimi Raikkonen in the lead with 48 points, closely followed by a client who is anything but comfortable like Robert Kubica, stopped at 46 points. It was precisely the Pole who was betrayed by the asphalt that was still not dry in the morning, which caused him to lose control: his exit ended with his side against the barriers. Thus, uncertainty transcends the outcome of this race, which everyone cares about, but which, above all, everyone is afraid of screwing up, and so strategies based on great prudence are anticipated. The uncertainty even becomes explosive after a mysterious face-to-face between Lewis Hamilton's father and Stefano Domenicali, after the welcome party organised by McLaren. A conversation that became the springboard for hypothesising a resounding turnaround in the drivers' market. In that handful of seconds is there the premise for Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari? The Times reporter, who witnessed the secluded chat between Anthony Hamilton and Stefano Domenicali, wondered. An intriguing cue, despite the monumental contract, five years for £75.000.000, that binds the English driver, and immediately there were whispers of problems within McLaren. Indeed, the sky above Hockenhaim is full of black, spiteful clouds.
On Saturday, July 19, 2008, in the final practice session - which was held in dry conditions - Kovalainen was fastest, ahead of Massa and teammate Hamilton. Alonso continued his strong practice form, finishing fourth, with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel making it to fifth position. Kubica once again was at the bottom of the table, this time due to a transmission problem. A few hours later, Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the ninth time in his career with a lap time of 1'15"666, having beaten Massa by two-tenths of a second in his final lap of the third session. Kovalainen, coming back after an error during his first run, qualified third, with Jarno Trulli taking fourth position. Alonso and Räikkönen were close together in fifth and sixth positions, with just 0.004 seconds separating them. Kubica took a comfortable seventh, half a second quicker in the third session than eighth-placed Webber. Vettel and Coulthard completed the top ten. Timo Glock took 11th place on the grid for Toyota, seven places behind his teammate Trulli. He was immediately in front of compatriots Heidfeld and Rosberg. Jenson Button and Bourdais took the 14th and 15th positions respectively. Both Heidfeld and Button later said that they suffered from tyre problems during the session. Completing the field, Kazuki Nakajima was 16th, Nelson Piquet Jr. 17th, and Rubens Barrichello 18th, whilst the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella brought up the rear of the grid in 19th and 20th positions. Piquet later complained that he was blocked during his first session run by Vettel:
"During my lap, Vettel was in front of me, which unsettled me a little, although the FIA felt that he did not impede me".
Kovalainen is, however, penalised by the stewards and fined €5.000 for using a refuelling system during qualifying which had not been approved by the FIA.
"I’m disappointed but not surprised by this verdict. We’ve been struggling all weekend. On Friday, at the end of free practice, we seemed to be on a good path, but it wasn’t the right direction, With less fuel the car is not that bad, with a full tank it completely loses its balance. From the very first kilometres I knew it was going to be a difficult Saturday, this sixth place is very disappointing to me, definitely not what I dreamed of".
Immediately nervous, as soon as he got out of the car, then just angry about a third row that once again threatens to keep him away from the highest step of the podium. This is the picture of Kimi Raikkonen present at Hockenheim, reigning World Champion, still leading the championship standings (on equal points with Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa), but who has not won for almost three months, in a results crisis that is beginning to take its toll. The Finn is not the type to give up. Even on Saturday, in front of those who showed dismay at his uninspiring performance, he replied dryly:
"It's not the end of the world, we're not at the end of the road yet, everything is still to be decided, both in this race and in the fight for the World Championship".
Of course, the Finn can make a fantastic comeback, even though he is up against five uncomfortable rivals, and even more so he can overtake everyone in the future, in the overall standings, and get the better of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. But it is worrying that a driver like him has not won since 27 April 2008, that out of nine races he has only won two (the other was in Malaysia, on 23 March 2008), one less than his two rivals, that even in terms of poles he has not exaggerated (here too only two, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton are on three), that in 2008 he has often been at loggerheads with fortune (certain victories in Canada, France, and Great Britain, denied by a collision with Lewis Hamilton, a broken exhaust pipe and a wrong choice of tyres) and that at certain times he shows a strange uneasiness, as when, in Montreal, he said that he could retire at the end of the season. In reality, the desire to continue is still there, he is close to extending his contract with Ferrari until 2011, he just has to find himself again, trying to do better. Also because Mclaren is very eager to run away with it. Even if the, very tight, duel with Ferrari is a matter of nuances. Lewis Hamilton is in a hurry, galvanised from the success conquered in Silverstone, he’s in front of everyone yet again. He snatched the pole confirming his determination and great feeling with his car, but the advantage on Felipe Massa is quite insignificant, less than the blink of an eye. The first ones to expect a hard, uncertain race, vulnerable to the weather conditions, especially in the hands of the strategists, are the drivers. For Ferrari, it was a double-sided Saturday: well with Felipe Massa, quite embarrassing for how things went with Kimi Raikkönen, who still hasn’t managed to put the reins on his car, who ended up as far as the third row with two uncomfortable clients in his way: Fernando Alonso and an incredible Jarno Trulli, not to mention Heikki Kovalainen. After the mistakes made in the UK, the search for a comeback did not receive the frank answer everyone was hoping for; it goes without saying that at the Ferrari pits it will not be easy to be serene, even if the presence of Michael Schumacher is greeted without any pretence. At McLaren they have it better, everything has run smoothly, and Lewis Hamilton hasn't skipped a beat with the addition of Heikki Kovalainen's impressive comeback. The battle for pole position finished with minimal gaps between the times, if one considers that seven cars qualified in the span of nine tenths and that the difference between Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica’s lap times, respectively first and seventh, is around forty metres. But under the stoplight, the starting grid puts Ferrari in a tricky position, with Felipe Massa all alone between the two McLarens, and let’s not forget Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, probably very much light on their feet, wanting to get in between the two team leaders. Lewis Hamilton stepped out of his car beaming, optimism more than reinforced:
"I’m very satisfied with how things have gone during my last lap, I got the right information from the team. I was only worried about making mistakes, considering it happened on other occasions. Here we are all quite close, we’ll have to be very careful".
The fact is that everyone turned up to this weekend with a baggage full of perplexities because today’s race could mark a turning point: the one thing everyone dreads is being left behind. Ferrari is even more with its breath held, tightly packed around Felipe Massa, who still hoped for first place:
"When you are in front you cannot complain, I can personally hope in a good race. We are aiming for victory, but the important thing is bringing home points. It’s going to be tough".
The Brazilian did good, didn’t make any mistakes, and always kept up with Lewis Hamilton, achieving better averages. Luca Baldisserri, not surprisingly, talks about this:
"We’re happy for Felipe who is in a great position for the race, even if the disappointment for Kimi remains. In any case we have shown that we have a very good race pace".
On Sunday, July 20, 2008, at the start, Hamilton, Massa, and Kovalainen all maintained their grid positions. Hamilton quickly began to pull away from the other cars, at the rate of about half a second per lap. Behind the leading trio, Kubica passed Räikkönen off the grid and went on to pass both Alonso and Trulli at the hairpin (turn 4), when Alonso's own attempted pass on Trulli delayed both drivers. The fight for fourth position continued in the early stages of the race. Kubica ran wide at the final corner on lap four, impeding Trulli and therefore allowing Alonso to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre on the Toyota down the main straight. However, Trulli held on to his position, and Alonso was instead passed by Räikkönen, moving him down to sixth position. At the back of the field, Nakajima spun his Williams but recovered back onto the track and continued in the race. At the first round of pit stops, Hamilton had a lead of nearly 20 seconds over Massa and fuelled longer than all the other drivers in the points-scoring positions when he pitted on lap 18. Coming out of the pits, Hamilton made an error and was passed by Trulli. The two drivers then nearly collided at the hairpin, with Hamilton holding back for the rest of the lap waiting for Trulli to pit. Trulli's teammate Glock stayed out on the track longer than all of the other drivers except Barrichello and Piquet, meaning that when he pitted, he was actually in third position and rejoined the race in eighth. Hamilton regained the lead by lap 22 after Massa, Kovalainen, Trulli, and Räikkönen made their pit stops, and had in the region an 11-second lead over Massa at the halfway stage of the race. Behind the leaders, fourth-placed Kubica was beginning to catch Kovalainen in third, while Trulli, Räikkönen, Alonso, and Vettel battled over the final four point-scoring places. On the 36th lap, Glock's right-rear suspension failed coming out of the final corner. He spun through 180 degrees before hitting the pit wall with a strong rearward impact, with debris flying across the track. The car, pointing the wrong way, rolled to a stop on the grass. A dazed Glock extracted himself before being treated at the medical centre. The safety car was deployed after the accident. When the pit lane opened on lap 38, most drivers headed in, including all of the leaders except Hamilton.
McLaren believed that Hamilton had enough fuel to stay out, the plan being for him to then rapidly pull away from his heavily fuelled rivals after the safety car went in. Hamilton needed to build up enough of a lead to rejoin still in first position, following his final pit stop. This would prove to be very risky, as Massa rejoined in fourth position, fuelled to the finish. Piquet, on a one-stop strategy after his poor qualifying performance, had fortuitously pitted immediately before the safety car's deployment and was also fuelled to the end of the race. Promoted to third place from 14th beforehand following the pit stops, he was set to take the lead once Hamilton and Heidfeld (who also had not pitted under the safety car conditions) pitted for their final stops. Further back, Vettel squeezed past Alonso at the pit exit, pushing him over the white line separating the pit lane exit from the track. Alonso complained over his radio but no action was taken against either driver. Meanwhile, Räikkönen dropped several places to 11th, having had to queue behind Massa at the second pit stop. When the safety car came in on lap 42, Hamilton led, while Heidfeld and Piquet were running second and third. Behind them were Massa, Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg and Räikkönen. Webber's Red Bull had been dripping oil for a couple of laps after picking up debris from Glock's crash, and on lap 40 he pulled out of the race. Räikkönen quickly passed Rosberg, and then overtook the squabbling Vettel and Alonso on the way down to the hairpin, while Hamilton desperately tried to pull away at the front. Räikkönen passed Trulli two laps later, while Kovalainen overtook Kubica for fifth place. Coulthard and Barrichello collided on the 48th lap with both cars pitting for repairs. Barrichello retired three laps later due to damage sustained as a result of the incident. Hamilton pitted on lap 50, coming out behind Heidfeld, Piquet, Massa and Kovalainen. Kovalainen let his teammate pass at the hairpin one lap later, meaning that Hamilton was now fourth. On lap 52, Heidfeld set a new fastest lap time of 1'15"987. He was the only driver to go under one minute 16 seconds during the Grand Prix. At the end of the following lap, Heidfeld entered the pits with a sizeable gap over Piquet, returning to the field comfortably ahead of Kovalainen, but behind Hamilton.
Hamilton's speed allowed him to quickly catch Massa in second position, with Piquet in the lead by a further three seconds. On lap 57, Hamilton passed Massa at the hairpin. Massa appeared to have the inside line covered, but he was not fully committed to the line into the braking zone, giving Hamilton the chance to take second position. Three laps later, he used a similar overtaking move to overtake Piquet, although the Renault driver put up a greater fight than Massa had. Hamilton led easily to the finish, although Piquet kept within six seconds of him. Heidfeld threatened a slowing Massa in the last laps, while Räikkönen was able to pass Kubica for sixth place on lap 60. Hamilton took the chequered flag first, while Piquet enthusiastically celebrated his drive from 17th to second, just 5.5 seconds behind. Massa held on to take third ahead of Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Räikkönen, and Kubica. Vettel secured eighth - the last points-scoring position - for Toro Rosso, ahead of Trulli in ninth, and Rosberg in 10th. Alonso finished 11th, ahead of Bourdais. Coulthard was 13th, Fisichella 14th, Nakajima 15th, Sutil 16th, and Button was last of the classified finishers in 17th. A record of sixteen drivers finished on the lead lap, beating the previous highest number of fourteen at the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix. The king of Germany is Lewis Hamilton, who dominates and easily wins an exceptional race. End of the great balance. At the halfway mark McLaren became competitive, while Ferrari sank in a difficult and shuddering afternoon. Slow, never competitive, with the bewildered Felipe Massa, its leading driver, having to defend third place behind a rookie, Nelson Piquet Jr. on Renault. Lewis Hamilton's feat has the taste of a triumph, made all the more conspicuous by the trailing Maranello cars, but one can only bow to the determination with which the McLaren driver has built his success, demonstrating not only that he has a perfect car, but also winning the tricks of fate, with the inevitable stop after the terrifying crash of Timo Glock's Toyota on lap 35. Lewis Hamilton was already well clear of Felipe Massa, who got off to the right start in the Englishman's slipstream and did well to repel Heikki Kovalainen's double attack with a planned move. The Englishman's acceleration is stunning, but the Ferrari is slower, so finishing second will be a success.
Everything comes back into play when Timo Glock ends his race against the wall due to a broken right rear suspension. These are moments of fear, wreckage flying everywhere (the driver will get out of the cockpit with his legs), and a chloroformed race with the Safety car on the track. Once his race is over, another one begins for everyone else. Lewis Hamilton’s wings were clipped, is the flight already over? It seems like it, also because Ron Dennis doesn’t pit his driver, while Ferrari anticipates the second stop and fills up the tanks to reach the end of the race. The victory, which already seemed in McLaren’s favour, gives an unexpected opportunity to Ferrari. When Lewis Hamilton gets back out on track, after his stop on lap 50, he’s fifth. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkönen also reappears, he overtakes Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and finally Jarno Trulli hard braking after reaching 315 km/h. The Grand Prix is getting ready to give its verdicts with an impetuous and unusual finale. Lewis Hamilton is running wild and unopposed, he has Heikki Kovalainen in front of him, who shamelessly lets him pass and chases Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet Jr., who has found himself unexpectedly where no one could have imagined. And this is where the afternoon becomes a nightmare for Ferrari. Hamilton catches up with Massa, passes him at the hairpin, and takes off without having any opposition. Michael Schumacher, at the race wall, looks like a sphinx, later to learn that the Ferrari had non-working brakes. But while Lewis Hamilton also passes Nelson Piquet Jr. and flies towards triumph, the image of Felipe Massa's car remains in our minds, unable to steal a metre from the Renault and even risking being overtaken by Nick Heidfeld. And the McLaren men start celebrating around the Englishman, who is happy, really happy. Loud techno music, shouts, and raised beers greet Lewis Hamilton's return to McLaren's all-mirrors-and-steel headquarters. The British driver gave his masters a victory that had been missing for ten years on this track, picking up the baton from a champion of Mika Hakkinen's calibre. Especially after this afternoon, the World Championship, which had begun amidst suffering and frustration, gives high hopes and the first place in the standings.
"It wasn’t easy, I was also quite lucky after the decision to stay on track while everyone else was anticipating the pitstop. The car was working very well and after I overtook Massa I also had fun. It was a pity to see the twenty seconds I had of advantage burnt away, but I always pushed hard. And I also did a bit on my own, I was the fastest, I had to take advantage of this opportunity".
All simple, all easy. And all very pleasant to talk about, without holding back, showing the world how much joy he feels. He is asked about that overtaking move on Felipe Massa, symbolic beyond the problems that plagued the Brazilian's Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton does not flinch:
"I realised straight away that I was faster than him. I got as close as I could, and I tried to understand what the tyre situation was like, I stayed close to him, and at the right moment I pushed as hard as I could, I worked a lot with the brakes. Let's say the whole thing was fun".
Now that everything ended for the better we can go back to the surprise that he received over the radio after overtaking Massa. Hamilton thought that the hard work was over and that he was back in the lead.
"Now you have to go and catch Piquet".
The McLaren engineers reminded him from the pits.
"I said to myself: just one final push. Let’s say it wasn’t either an easy or comfortable afternoon for me. Of course, I had not planned a race like this. Also, it went well for me when they decided not to make a pit stop with the safety car on the track. Now I can say it was hard but I had fun".
Perhaps there was no time for such digressions, there was a lot to suffer in the Ferrari pits, but certainly seeing Lewis Hamilton run so fast, a small smile at the thought of that hypothesis of bringing the Englishman to Maranello that arose after that meeting between Stefano Domencali and Lewis' father was all there. Never before has Lewis Hamilton become the pillar on which McLaren and Mercedes rest their dreams of glory and revenge. Not least because, in the meantime, Mercedes intends to become McLaren's majority shareholder. This is confirmed by Martin Whitmarsh, managing director of the British team. Supplier of the engines since 1995, the Stuttgart group, already holding 40% of the shares, is preparing to take the next step.
"This interest is a demonstration of Mercedes' commitment".
The German company is the only one among the big manufacturers competing in Formula 1 that does not own a team directly. Although the German giant's control of the racing team is very much felt. At Hockenheim, the presence of Mercedes president Dieter Zetsche in the pits is certainly no coincidence: he is the big sponsor of the operation. Meanwhile, the opponents admit their defeat.
"We were too slow".
Signed Stefano Domenicali, team principal of Ferrari.
"We took a step backwards".
Sentences Felipe Massa, one of the two drivers mocked by Lewis Hamilton, but above all unable to overtake Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Renault.
"Now things are getting difficult, we have to understand if it is just a set-up problem in this race or if we have taken the wrong path in the development of the car".
A phrase consigned to history by Kimi Raikkonen, the other driver, but above all the reigning World Champion, one who in the final laps pulled off five overtakes, but who had previously been basking in his slow pace, struggling all weekend with the instability of his car. Worrisome snapshots from Hockenheim, images of an ugly defeat, phrases that capture well a Sunday that no one in Maranello would have guessed. He says well, Stefano Domenicali:
"Since Magny-Cours, not a century has passed, only a month. In that race, we seemed to be from another planet".
Yes, but where has that Ferrari gone? Able to win with Felipe Massa and finish second with Kimi Raikkonen, despite half a race with a broken exhaust pipe? Where has that car got to, a car that may have suffered a little in qualifying, but on race pace had no rivals? Stefano Domenicali makes no excuses:
"For the first time during the Grand Prix, we were slower than the McLaren and we have to understand why. We had brake problems with Massa and set-up problems with Raikkonen, but we don't know if it is enough to explain everything. We have to reflect and react quickly, already starting from Budapest".
And above all, immediately finding that car that is clearly superior to the competition, which suffered the defect at the start of the season of not taking full advantage of its overwhelming power, keeping Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in the race and even Kubica's BMW in the slipstream. Now the question arises as to whether it was wrong to bet on both drivers, to bless an even race, resulting in a scattering of energy, but to do otherwise was impossible. Could the World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, have been dumped? And who would tell Felipe Massa, 3 points ahead of the Finn in the World Championship, to step aside to favour his teammate's title race? In this Ferrari has been in a blind alley from the start, it could not do otherwise. What is needed instead is to regain the old form, not to prove impotent as at Hockenheim, in the face of Lewis Hamilton. Stefano Domenicali says again:
"We have to stay calm and concentrated, we’ve always been good at fighting back during hard times".
And it will have to succeed again, lest Felipe Massa say:
"I didn't have the right car to fight".
Turn the page immediately. Kimi Raikkonen thinks so too:
"To carry the memory of Hockenheim in our heads for a long time would be wrong, let's think about Budapest now".
But also, another remark from the Finn:
"Understand what didn't work here and don't repeat the same mistakes".
We need another Ferrari. Certainly not Felipe Massa's.
"Hamilton was giving me 0.5 seconds a lap, but at the end I couldn't even attack the Renault and at the start I struggled to catch the BMWs and Toyotas. The only positive thing about this race is the six points".
Nor was the car driven by Kimi Raikkonen:
"Always unstable. No brake problems, but difficult to drive".
Nelson Piquet Jr. is the classic lightning bolt that would have caused less of a stir. The young Brazilian driver on the podium in Germany becomes an unexpected ray of sunshine in a world where everything seems rigidly paced. A breathtaking leap for this driver with an important surname, who came out from the back of the pack in a flash, reversing a season marked by bad figures and mediocrity. And there had already been talk of Renault's desire to end the experiment at the end of the season. Nelson Piquet Jr. even managed to do better than his father Nelson, who reached the podium in only his second year in F1, it was 13 January 1980, and was driving a Brabham. Then Dad would go on to win the World Championship three times, in 1981, 1986 and 1987. A little bit of envy was felt yesterday when he went to ask about Nelsinho, a nickname given to him because Nelson, which dad gave him with little effort of imagination, seemed a little too big. Flavio Briatore does not give much away about the singularity of the event:
"A bit of good luck, but Piquet did well, he held back someone like Massa, he has his merits".
If Piquet hadn't gotten one right so far, Flavio Briatore sees important things and a lot of merit during the German Grand Prix. Happier than him is Nelson Piquet, who in Barcelona, marvelling in no small way, had without hesitation affirmed:
"Remember, my son is definitely better than me".
Words that ended up in a corner amidst smiles and winks, but have now been hastily dusted off.
"Of course, I was also lucky, the Safety car favoured us when I thought I was done after that qualifying on Saturday. Then they were good at calling me back at the right time and I didn't make a mistake once in front. I kept up with Massa, I was careful not to ruin the tyres, I knew Hamilton was faster, and I didn't look for trouble, it was too important to finish. A great emotion, I still find it hard to believe it's all true".
But in the paddock, all they talk about is Ferrari and its moment of difficulty. And so, the media asks Flavio Briatore for his opinion. If the Italian manager was in charge of Ferrari would he be worried?
"In what sense? If you want a prediction, I prefer not to express myself yet. The World Championship is long, it's too early to draw up budgets, in Formula 1 from one race to the next everything can change".
However, he does agree that in Germany McLaren was much faster than Ferrari.
"This is the only certain fact, no one can make any doubts and it is strange that the Reds suffered in this way from the overwhelming power of their adversaries. Something quite inexplicable, if you consider that only a month earlier, at Magny-Cours, the Ferraris seemed uncatchable".
In your opinion what could have happened?
"I don't know, I don't work in Maranello".
Afraid to get out of line?
"Never. But there is no point in shooting off judgements based on mere impressions. I know what goes on in my house, at Renault. I admit to being astonished. It's not like Ferrari to lose like this. But I think an exact picture of how the battle will end can only be had after Monza or even later".
At that time there will be four races or less to go....
"But that's the beauty of balanced confrontations. It wasn't this time, in Germany, it could be again in Budapest. I think anything can still happen".
Even for Renault to return to the podium?
"I hope so and I believe it. Also because our car is not as bad as some people claim. Piquet was lucky to be in that position, but then he was good at only yielding to Hamilton, to hold out against Massa. We are growing, I am satisfied".
Also very satisfied with Fernando Alonso's performance?
"First of all, I am satisfied, to add the very missed great result of Alonso, which I am sure will come soon. I am sorry that at Hockenheim he threw himself into the bumper cars, but I am convinced that he will have the chance to prove his worth. Our progress is encouraging. The goal now is to get closer to BMW".
How can you expect to make up so many points, they are at 89, you at 23?
"I intended to catch up on the track, performance-wise. In the Constructors' Championship the goal is fourth place. Toyota has two more points, Red Bull Racing one, we have to overtake them".
But who will finish first?
"After Monza. I'll tell you in September".
Fists on the table. As a president who alternates carrot and stick to perfection knows how to do it. Now the first is needed, because Ferrari on Sunday was too ugly to be true, too surrendered to McLaren as never before in 2008. Too heavy a defeat, too big a step backwards compared to Magny-Cours, a month earlier, when the cars from Maranello seemed uncatchable. Too conspicuous a metamorphosis to accept it passively, and Luca Montezemolo is not the type to shirk.
"It's time to grow a pair. To react. We have to understand how it was possible that in Germany we were so slow, it has never happened this year".
Harsh words, a full-blown reprimand to the whole team, drivers, senior management, engineers, mechanics, at the end of a rather agitated technical meeting, the classic Monday meeting, in which Montezemolo, however, this time wanted to participate in person, to spice it up with precise calls for an immediate reaction. The president didn't like it and made it clear, a classic course of action of his, usually aimed at spurring the group on rather than demeaning it. Those who know Ferrari well know that Montezemolo's outbursts (it had also happened last year after Budapest) are nothing new, and in some ways they even bring good results, given that in 2007, just to give an example, they were followed by a fantastic comeback that took Kimi Raikkonen to the top of the world, to the despair of Lewis Hamilton and McLaren; but two reprimands in a fortnight are not an everyday occurrence, and the president, with a dry enough tirade commenting on the strategic errors at Silverstone, had already made himself heard after the last Grand Prix. Something hasn't been working for a while and Montezemolo demands a decisive turnaround, so as not to run the risk of losing the World Championship and nullifying a superiority over McLaren that seemed clear at the start of the season. Turn the page and make no more mistakes. This is the meaning of the stern message. A watchword that has to animate Ferrari starting from Wednesday 23 July 2008, when the team will begin the hard work in Jerez (Wednesday and Thursday Kimi Raikkonen, Friday Felipe Massa) ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team is ready to question itself thoroughly, to understand what may have been the mistakes that turned the brilliant car of Magny-Cours into the bad copy of Hockenheim. In order to achieve its objective, it is prepared to start from scratch, from a month earlier, putting the car that was seen in France back on track and then analyzing the various modifications made, to see which ones have benefited and which ones have taken a wrong turn. Because the Maranello team's gut feeling is that it was more the Ferrari that got worse than the McLaren that took a step forward. What was puzzling was not the suffering of Lewis Hamilton, but the failure to go faster than the Toyotas and BMWs. Brakes (for Felipe Massa) and set-up (for Kimi Raikkonen) were the most obvious problems, but it is the whole performance (especially in the race) that was unconvincing, an involution that is more alarming than the unforgiving Budapest track, where Ferrari, its pace shortened compared to 2007, is convinced, see Monte-Carlo with the red front row in qualifying, that it is up to the task.